Voice of the customer sounds like another name for a client avatar. To be honest, you’re not completely wrong. Your avatar encompases VoC. Your avatar will evolve as you start to develop and understand VoC. So what is it exactly? Let’s start by showing you how you’ve seen it….
Imagine this, you’re ordering a bubble blaster from Amazon and you’re thinking, “let me see if it needs batteries.” Before you can determine what size is needed, Amazon suggests batteries that fit your purchase, making add to cart a no brainer plus it qualifies you for free overnight shipping. Talk about a win because you need it asap. Have you ever thought, “how does Bezos and friends know what I was thinking?” -That is called VoC
Amazon uses trends from what other customers are purchasing, reviews, data and a plethora of things to create a VoC or voice of the customer. VoC allows companies to shift from a one sided transactional relationship to building a reciprocal relationship with their customers. It is taking those predictive analysis and seeing if they are actually true. When done correctly, customer’s say ” you get me.” By deep diving into VoC, Amazon has gone from a store to a friendly reminder that says “don’t forget the double A batteries for your toddler’s bubble blaster.”
Sounds better than a one sided transaction right?
VoC isn’t just for big businesses, small businesses can leverage it too. No matter the size of your company, your customers expect you to anticipate what they will need next. They need to feel like you understand them, or they won’t buy. I’ve had a client tell me ” I went to your website and I said, damn she knows me!” She then proceeded to book services with us and now her project in in the works. We are able to do this because we pay close attention to our VoC. We know how to speak to where our customer are in their business, anticipate any questions and articulate how we help them get to where they want to be.
The Voice of the Customer (VoC) is a crucial element in Customer Experience (CX), representing the collective feedback, opinions, and preferences of customers. It impacts the client journey and builds relationships.
Think of it as the inner voice your customer needs to hear. It also serves as a compass guiding businesses towards delivering exceptional experiences that meet or exceed customer expectations. (Sounds like a blog post from earlier 🧐…Ya’ll see how all these blog post are tied together…. just me..ok.) Understanding and leveraging VoC has become paramount for organizations striving to differentiate themselves through superior customer relations and experiences.
At its core, the VoC is about this:
Listening to customers across various touchpoints and channels, whether it’s through surveys, feedback forms, social media, online reviews, or direct interactions. Use these insights provide valuable information about what customers value, what frustrates them, and how their needs and expectations evolve over time and then inject your improvements inside your customer journey map. Need a free template to create a journey map? Click here.
How can you get started developing your VoC?
You know I am going to start with the website because it is forward facing…… Ask yourself these three questions while reviewing your website or any digital medium that you are using to reach your customers:
- What does your customer need most?
- Can you say three things that your customer would say to put them at ease?
- Where can you place this on your page?
Using this simple test will help you discover if you are channeling the voice of your customer and where to start improving.
